All results / Stories / Tim Summers Jr.
Charlotte, Baton Rouge Airports Lessons for Jackson’s ‘Takeover’
The Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport is not the only municipal air-traffic hub looking down the barrel of a state-sanctioned reorganization of its governing board.
City Leaders at a Loss over Water, Sewer Revenue Loss
The water- and sewer-revenue deficit has a few possible sources, but even Jackson City Council members are having a difficult time parsing out the how and why.
Rumors of Secret Contract Deals for Tire Plant Prompt Preemptive Moves
Rumors swirling around the county about who would get lucrative contracts to help build and service the new Continental Tire plant prompted the Hinds County Board of Supervisors president to address the Hinds County Economic Development Board in a special meeting Thursday.
UPDATE: 'Very Serious': Council Accuses Mayor of Dodging Whether Budget Reserves Depleted
Jackson City Council members today accused Mayor Tony Yarber and his administration of concealing information that could show whether or not the City's budget reserves are depleted.
Schools, Guns, Family, Bad Policing: Chief Vance Discusses Crime-Fighting with JFP Editor
In the wake of fears raised after a parent pulled a gun at Forest Hill High School last week, the capital city's top police officer said Monday night that Jackson Public Schools polices itself.
City Reserves Dip, Mayor Dodges Budget Inquiries
Documents, including emails, released to the Jackson Free Press indicate that despite protestation from Mayor Tony Yarber and his administration, the City has been dipping into the ordinance-protected reserve fund to fill in shortfalls from last year's budget.
Battle for the Airport: The Next Steps
Medgar Wiley Evers looked down from the wall of the memorial pavilion in the airport named after him upon the chairwoman of the soon-to-be-replaced governing commission as she lamented the governor's signing of SB 2162 into law.
Kishia Powell: ‘I Don’t Steer’ Contracts; City Loan Debate; Guns, Payday Ordinances
Documents, including emails, released to the Jackson Free Press indicate that despite protestation from Mayor Tony Yarber and his administration, the City has been dipping into the ordinance-protected reserve fund to fill in shortfalls from last year's budget.
UPDATED: City of Jackson's Fund Reserve Down to $1.3 Million, Core Services Under Knife
The Jackson City Council finally heard Thursday what some members had already surmised in earlier meetings: The City administration has pulled from the ordinance-mandated fund reserves, leaving a little more than a million dollars for use in case of an emergency or to meet unforeseen budget shortfalls.
Protests at City Hall over 'Secrecy and Division' Amid Budget Deficits, Huge Water Bills
A small group of concerned citizens gathered in the light rain Tuesday morning on the steps of Jackson City Hall to protest the "secrecy and division" of the city government, even as Jackson City Council gathered for its regular meeting inside.
‘External Threats’: City Takeover Talk Complicates Budget Skirmish
The Jackson City Council and Mayor Tony Yarber sparred last week over the newest revelations about the small amount of reserve funds that remain in City coffers and the potential cuts that this could bring.
‘Debtor’s Prison’: City to Settle in ‘Pay or Stay’ Lawsuit
For more than 20 days in 2015, disabled 58-year-old Jerome Bell slept on the concrete floor of a cell with no cushion or mattress in a crowded Hinds County jail. He was in for a traffic violation.
UPDATE: Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Robert Graham Running for Mayor
Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the son of the former mayor who died while in office, is offering his candidacy for mayor this week. He ran against now-Mayor Tony Yarber in the special election to replace his father
'Pay or Stay' Lawsuit Against City Part of Larger Trend of Challenges
Municipal-court systems that practice "pay or stay" policies, jailing people who cannot afford fines, are facing legal objections across the South from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union. In addition to Jackson, it includes the Municipal Court of Biloxi.
National Airport Board Names Jackson's Carl Newman Chairman
The executive director of Jackson's airport now chairs the largest association of accredited airport professionals in the world.
A Very, Very Full Plate: An Interview with Department of Public Works Director Kishia Powell
Kishia Powell, director of the department of public works, sat down with the Jackson Free Press on May 4 to clear the air about her constant struggle against the problems she inherited as head of the fight against potholes, water leaks, and water bill difficulties.
Stokes to Circulate Police-chase Petition in Response to DOJ Letter
During a community meeting at Cornerstone Baptist Church Wednesday night, Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes and citizens decided to circulate a petition in response to a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division about suburban police departments' high-speed chases into the city.
More City Transparency: Council Posts Agenda Packets Online, Finally
In a step toward compliance with state law, and the latest in a series of steps to generate transparency in local government, the Jackson City Council posted its agenda packet for next week's meeting online: a first for the Jackson municipal government. Those documents are the back-up materials that council members get for discussions during meetings.
UPDATED: Kishia Powell: Did Not Come to Jackson 'to Be a Figurehead,' New Atlanta Watershed Director
After almost two years on the job, Jackson's Director of Public Works Kishia Powell tendered her resignation to Mayor Tony Yarber's office this weekend, but the specific reasons are still unclear.
Hinds Youth Center Director: Major ‘Gaps’ in Juvenile Justice Feed Cycle of Crime
Johnnie McDaniels, the executive director of the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center, spoke softly to the assembled Justice Reform Task Force in Jackson's police headquarters about how in a decade as city prosecutor, he had known little about the realities of juvenile justice.